{"id":5793,"date":"2018-07-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4vultures.org\/blog\/life-rupis-field-report\/"},"modified":"2018-07-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T00:00:00","slug":"life-rupis-field-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/4vultures.org\/pt\/blog\/life-rupis-field-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracking Egyptian vultures in the Douro region of Spain and Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A LIFE Rupis<\/a>\u00a0 project aims to strengthen the populations of the Egyptian vulture (and the Bonelli\u00b4s eagle) in the cross-border Douro region of Spain and Portugal, by reducing the mortality of these birds and increasing their breeding success. Recently some of the Vulture Conservation Foundation team went on field work with the team and Louis sent this report back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Egyptian Vultures in the Douro Canyon<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Egyptian vulture is the smallest vulture in Europe, and it is classified as “Endangered” \u2013 in Europe its populations have declined by 50% over the last 40 years – and the Douro canyon includes one of its strongholds in Iberia with the presence of 135 breeding pairs, according to the baseline study done in the beginning of the project.<\/p>\n

\"Cliffs
Cliffs used by Egyptian vultures and griffon vultures for nesting, Penedo Dur\u00e3o, Portugal. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monitoring movements Egyptian vultures<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here at the Vulture Conservation Foundation we are working to analyse space use and movement patterns of the birds that are being tagged with GPS transmitters.\u00a0 While we have already learnt a great deal about the extent of the movements of these birds, their migration routes<\/a>\u00a0 and their summer and winter ranges, it is still not fully understood why the birds repeatedly visit specific sites. In an effort to identify the main drivers of these movements, the resources that the vultures rely upon and any potential threats within their summer range, we, along with other LIFE Rupis partners recently spent two days visiting sites that were identified as being important for the vultures during the analyisis of the GPS data.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following Egyptian vultures<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

The vultures all tend to move in an eastwards direction from their nest sites and so the vast majority of repeatedly visited sites are located in the Salamanca region of Spain which is known for its livestock farming industry.<\/p>\n

Of the 15 sites visited, all had at least one of the following features in common: the presence of livestock, usually cows and calves; man-made livestock drinking ponds (known locally as \u201ccharcas\u201d); rocky outcrops; private hunting properties; and\/or proximity to sites used for dumping of rubbish and waste. Although these sites were identified from GPS tracking data from only five breeding adults it is likely that other vultures also use these sites as Egyptian vultures often forage in groups, particularly at sites with predictable food availability.\u00a0<\/p>\n